The animals on factory farms produce tremendous amounts of manure. Food & Water Watch estimates that the livestock and poultry on the largest factory farms in 2012 produced 369 million tons of manure — almost 13 times more than the 312 million people in the United States.[i] This 13.8 billion cubic feet of manure is enough to fill the Dallas Cowboys stadium 133 times.[ii] The household waste produced in most U.S. communities is treated in municipal sewer systems. But factory farm manure is stored in lagoons and ultimately applied, untreated, to farm fields as fertilizer.

Small, diversified farms that raise animals as well as other crops have always used manure as fertilizer without polluting water. The difference with factory farms is scale. They produce so much waste in one place that it must be applied to land in quantities that exceed the soil’s ability to incorporate it. The vast quantities of manure can — and do — make their way into the local environment where they pollute the air and water.

Replacing Independent Farmers

Nor have most farmers benefited from the shift to factory farming. The number of dairy, hog and beef cattle producers in the United States has declined sharply over the last 20 years as the meatpacking, processing and dairy industries have driven farmers to increase in scale. The tiny handful of companies that dominates each livestock sector exerts tremendous control over the prices that farmers receive, and these companies micromanage the day-to-day operations of many farms. The real price that farmers receive for livestock has trended steadily downward for the last two decades. Most farmers barely break even. In 2012, more than half of farmers lost money on their farming operations.[iii]

How Did We Get Here?

The rise of factory farming is no accident. It is the result of public policy designed to benefit big meatpackers and food processors that dominate the critical steps between farm and consumer. Factory farming was facilitated by three policy changes pushed by the largest agribusinesses: A series of farm bills artificially lowered the cost of the corn and soy that go into animal feed; the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ignored factory farm pollution; and the Department of Justice allowed the largest meatpackers to merge into a virtual monopoly.

What You Can Do About It

Policies made at all levels of government contributed to the rise of factory farms, so all levels of government will need to make changes to rein in this industry.

Congress should restore sensible farm programs that do not prioritize the production of artificially cheap livestock feed over fair prices to crop farmers.